One day we will move away from the Bay Area. Like so many others, we’ll take advantage of the ridiculously overpriced property values in the Bay Area and cash in. One potential destination is Portland, Oregon.
There are lots of things to like about Portland. First of all we have several dear friends in Portland. Our friends Neil and Ali Solari really made us feel welcome. Eager to show off Portland and its surroundings, designated driver Ali cheerfully escorted us to a few of their favorite spots as well as some none of us had visited before. Our dinner Friday night at Pok Pok was very good. The excellent company and the Sing Ha made the long wait tolerable. Breakfast at Berti Lou’s the next morning was fabulous, despite another long wait.
The Portland area also offers some great wine tasting, as we discovered on Saturday’s winery tours. thedude loved the tasty labels on the the Argyle wines, and Kelly was fond of the Lange Chardonnay, but the high point of the day was the scenic Torii Mor winery. The overpriced wines were deliciously paired with bittersweet chocolate balls. Yum! (thedude recommends the port.)
On Sunday we visited our friends Mark and Jiji. We had another excellent breakfast (and another long wait outside) at the Cricket Cafe. The wait gave me a chance to snap a few shots of some of my favorite subjects.
Later, after a huge mug of sweet pumpkin Chai tea at Tea Chai Té and a quick tour of neighborhoods in east Portland, we decided to try to get a seat at Mark’s favorite sushi restaurant, but – you guessed it – there was a long line and we didn’t have the time or the patience to wait.
Instead, we ate at the first place I ever ate in Portland – Taqueria Nueve – which is my favorite Portland restaurant at the moment, and not just because of the fine margaritas. Everything I’ve eaten here has been very good to excellent.
By the way, while looking for links for this entry, I ran across this fun Portland food and drink review site. A guy who calls himself “Food Dude” offers in-depth reviews of loads of Portland eateries. Check it out.